The clash of titans is here. Two teams that have looked absolutely phenomenal this season, fight it out once again in the reverse fixture in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. Last time Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians met, they had to be separated by the barest of margins via a Super Over. Having said that the breathtaking contest is an inconsequential game for both the sides considering their sense of security in making to the playoffs berth and the fact that the prolific Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma might be out of the game owing to his hamstring injury.
The sides are placed in the top three of the points table of the IPL 2020 and the game is a battle of supremacy where each side has their eyes on the top two spots in the playoff berth.
What makes the battle between the men in blue and black and gold exciting is that the last time when they met on the pitch, there was not much of a difference between the two on the basis of pure performances in the main match and only a super over could decide who was better on that night in Dubai. The Royal Challengers Bangalore had shown an exemplary level of composure that is not so associated with the side to outsmart Rohit Sharma’s side in the battle of nerves, which must have been a hard pill to swallow for the Mumbai Indians.
Come October 28 in Abu Dhabi and the Mumbai Indians will be itching to course-correct their journey and defeat the RCB who have been looking like the most balanced side the franchise has put out for years. But, they will have to do without Rohit Sharma who is nursing a leg injury and may well sit out with the team management not looking to risk him ahead of the playoffs.
On the other hand, the RCB will be looking to get a step further in the rivalry with the Mumbai Indians and will bank their impressive bowlers to get better of the long list of swashbuckling batsmen in the Mumbai camp. Virat Kohli said that the super over he faced against Jasprit Bumrah woke him up from the rustiness and he never looked back since. The star batsman would look to dominate the Mumbai Indians bowling attack this time around.
Mumbai has a very potent bowling line-up with the presence of seasoned pros in Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah at the helm of affairs but the real surprise has been James Pattinson who was inducted into the squad only as a replacement. Kohli would hope that the side that possesses three international batting stars including him, AB de Villiers, and Aaron Finch would be able to provide better answers to the questions that the Mumbai bowlers have been throwing at batsmen.
The match will also be riveting for the contest between the spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar who have been nothing but phenomenal in the IPL so far and the Mumbai batting lineup that has batsmen who feast on spin bowling such as Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav. A lot of talks have been on the inclusion of Chris Morris in the XI and Navdeep Sani and Mohammed Siraj with the new ball but Virat Kohli and Mike Hesson would realise that both Sundar and Chahal have been an integral part of their success this season by picking up wickets regularly in the middle overs.
Match Number - 48
Date: 28th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai
An old pitch will be used for this game but the expectations can possibly be high given the fresher version of the pitch had produced a high-scoring game that was played between the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians had posted a monumental score of 195 and the Royals had chased down the score on the back of superlative batting from Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson.
The Mumbai Indians will look to improve their bowling from the last match looking at the form of the RCB batting line-up while Virat Kohli will be looking forward to restricting the Mumbai Indians from running away with a big total if he does not get the opportunity to bat first. The pitch is likely to be slower if there is no or little due in the late night and captains will have no hesitation in batting first.
The weather conditions in Abu Dhabi have been ideal to play cricket and it is likely to remain the same on the night of the MI-RCB clash.
There is a lot of opacity about the nature and seriousness of Rohit Sharma’s injury especially after the batsman was not named in the Indian squads for the upcoming Australia tour. However, the franchise had put out a video showing Rohit hitting the nets and training hard with his batting. There are questions surrounding his availability in the remaining matches of the league but whatsoever is his status, he is unlikely to be rushed back into the Xi as the team management will have its eyes on the bigger prize of playoffs.
The team is unlikely to change for the last game against the Royals and that will mean a longer rope for Ishan Kishan at the top of the order and Saurabh Tiwari is likely to be persisted at the number four position.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard (c), Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Virat Kohli will have to stop the mayhem of Mumbai’s batsmen without Navdeep Saini who has been ruled out due to an injury. Saini has been instrumental for the team bowling the toughest overs of the game and to the best batsmen in the opposition line up.
With Saini ruled out, Kohli will have to find someone who can bowl both at the start and the end of the innings and one among Dale Steyn and Ishuru Udana might get back into the playing Xi in place of Moeen Ali who is having a very subdued IPL so far. Pawan Negi or Shivam Dube could well be brought back to fill the void that will be created in case of Moeen Ali’s exclusion from the playing XI.
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Chris Morris, Shivam Dube/Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Ishuru Udana/Dale Steyn, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Ishan kishan, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, james Pattinson, yuzvendra Chahal
Captain: AB de Villiers
Vice-captain: Hardik Pandya
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